Essential Pleasures

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:43 am

Recently I was stretched out in a steaming, hot bath. I had music playing in the background, and I'd placed some aromatics into the water. It occurred to me that being able to relax in a hot bath was one of those individual pleasures in life I would not readily forsake.

There are other things I would have trouble living without as well:
*Birdsong, especially when I first wake up
*Music
*quality coffee
*literature and art
*the opportunity to write
*the purr of my cats and the feel of their fur as I scratch their various itchy spots

As I think of them, I'll add more.

What do you consider pleasures that you would not want to live without?

note: I do recognise, obviously, that this kind of a question is highly subjective and depends entirely on personal lifestyles, experiences, income, cultural distinctions etc.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:09 am

I cant live without:

The ocasional smell of rain falling in the earth after a week or two without rain, in the end of a sunny day;
The moonlinght that enters my room window in full moon nights, with the sound of crickets and owls outside;
The coffe (yes, coffe rules all)
My dog barking at me to play;
Birdsong is cool too, we have plenty (they're nesting right now, you should listen to it around 5 am, when they wake up)
My books and being able to buy books;
Internet access;

Oh so many things...

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:38 pm

Pleasures that really matter to me are:

1. The excitement and euphoria when I see all the efforts from myself and my team converging into a new scientific discovery.
2. Great scenery like icy peaks in earth's big mountain ranges or golden sand dunes under the bright star-lit night sky.
3. Sex.

Pleasure I could live without, but why should I when they make my life so much richer?

1. Music, especially the Russian Golden and Silver Age composers.
2. Art, right now I am most interested in West and Central African art
3. Literature.
4. Meeting and interacting with people from cultures that differ widely from my own.

Chimaera182 · Post by **Chimaera182** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:00 pm

This is an easy one. AIR CONDITIONING! I cannot live without it, yet for over a week now I've been forced to. 80 F is sweat weather to me, and south Florida isn't known for its mild summers. For the last week, my a/c has been broken; I had to break out a fan to run all the time so I can keep cool. And it has to be on at night; I could never sleep at night unless the a/c was constantly blowing on me (and at night it's usually set at 72). I find I will look for almost any excuse to leave my apartment and be somewhere cool. University is an example, and one of the buildings where I have my classes is absolutely frigid, especially after walking for 10 minutes in the 90+ heat. Also, at work (I work in a chocolate shop), I spend most of my time in back; not because I want to, but because that's where my job is mostly. And the chocolate is stored back there and it's usually in the mid-60s. Blessed be the man who invented the freaking air conditioner.

I also can't live without Pepsi.

Believe me, I've tried.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:38 pm

Don't really think I have some "pleasures" I couldn't live without, if I had to - food and water kept out of the equation of course.
Sure there are pleasures which are nice to have... but nothing I couldn't do without.

An advantage - or curse if you will - of being a loner.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:06 pm

*Music
*Ways to avoid hot weather
*Books
*Ice
*The moon

*nods* I think that'd be it. The rest is all frivilous indulgence to me.

Locke Da'averan · Post by **Locke Da'averan** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:10 pm

[QUOTE=dragon wench]
*Birdsong, especially when I first wake up
[/QUOTE]

yes seagulls shrieking voice, 5am that makes me wish i had a shotgun with heatseeking buckshot ammo would make me sacrifice smth to the devil himself

i know that's not what you meant and onto the serious matter

*the feel of someone hugging you that you love
*the feel of someone nestling close to you when you're in bed
*sex
*a hot sauna, good friend or two or three, 3hours of vacant time and a 12-pack of icecold olvi beer
*the knowledge i can sleep late and when i wake up, i can go to sleep again as many times as i want
*half-mirrored sunglasses while walking around the beach on a busy, very hot summer day.
*playing pool with a funny guy from brazil over MSN

i guess that's all i can think of atm..

CM · Post by CM » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:12 pm

1. Coca Cola
2. Chocolate
3. Work - What a high

winter rose · Post by **winter rose** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 5:54 pm

^ You can live without all of the above!!

For me it would be the sun and the rain. Oh and Fas.

The Z · Post by **The Z** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:11 pm

1. Fresh coastal air. I love Vancouver air.
2. Pro sports (watching, playing, pools, stats, everything)

Plus a lot of things people have already mentioned.

Obsidian · Post by **Obsidian** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:54 pm

I'm finding more and more that I need more and more to be happier. Is that a bad thing?

I've bounced around a lot for the military, but one thing I always take with me(tactical situation permiting

) is my laptop and speakers. Music keeps me sane, watching movies is handy, and I can usually sneak onto some wireless network somewhere, or keep a handy lil ethernet cable in my bag.
I played a lot of BG2 on my last tasking.

But I wouldn't call any of it essential. It's just very pleasent to have music when you wake up in the morning.

Not having the things you enjoy makes them all that much better when you finally get home.

God I love my own bed, and my own girl (rather than some random bar star) in it when I wake up.

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:22 pm

For me, some of the things I love:

the way the air feels in the fall when you breath it. Not cold enough to make you're teeth chatter, but cold enough to where it feels invigorating for me.

The mountains. I don't think I could function anywhere where there weren't mountains. It's my getaway.

Music. It's ingrained or something

Women. And bikinis. On women, not me

my leather jacket. Probably more sentimental than anything else, but I think it might be my security blanket now

Dogs. If I don't own one at a given time, I usually borrow the neighborhood dogs wandering around to hike or play with. I am a big time dog person. Sue me for being sentimental

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:28 pm

[QUOTE=dragon wench]

What do you consider pleasures that you would not want to live without?
[/QUOTE]

Breathing...

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 12:05 am

It seems we all like the sound and smell of rain, literature, music.. and er... breathing.... I hope none of us post in the classified sections of certain newspapers...

Seriously, cheers for the great responses

Dottie · Post by **Dottie** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:03 am

Without any intention to make a joke, I actually find food to be a nearly essential pleasure. I really appreciate a good large meal. Often i feels like I can spend an entire day just eating, but economic and aesthetic issues prevents taxing my desires unfortunatly.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:22 am

Oh, cooking, and food, forgot those. I love coming up with odd recipes and trying them out and see how I like them. Not to mention, I enjoy cooking for other people at times too.

Juniper · Post by **Juniper** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:32 am

Trying to make a list...not entirely easy....here are some of mine

**falling asleep looking up at the stars...waking up in the morning with the pillow juuuuust right and being sooo comfey..

**watching the sun set, and the wind chims ring...

** A book that you just can't put down..

** good coffee & and fantastic chardonnay.....

My list could go on......but, I'll keep it brief....
I'm having a crappy day...and thinking about all this happy, mushy stuff has made it a little better!

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:08 am

Ah yes.. good food and wine..

@Dottie,
no worries, I know exactly what you mean. Some people simply eat because they have to for basic survival while others also experience the complete sensual pleasure of doing so.

I agree too. I can rarely eat a great volume of food, but I love cooking, experimenting with different flavours and textures, and tasting the end result. And of course, a well chosen wine never hurts either..

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:20 am

[QUOTE=dragon wench]It seems we all like the sound and smell of rain, literature, music.. and er... breathing.... I hope none of us post in the classified sections of certain newspapers...

[/QUOTE]

Forgive me. Since this is your thread, oh Doyen of Desire, what should have been said was, "Heavy Breathing."

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:24 am

[QUOTE=thantor3]Forgive me. Since this is your thread, oh Doyen of Desire, what should have been said was, "Heavy Breathing."

[/QUOTE]

Ah, at last! Now I know the identity of that heavy breather on the phone!